Fergie’s blame game ploy fails

THE name Mike Dean, quite rightly in some cases, has been trotted out by any number of Premier League managers in recent seasons as an excuse to mask their own team’s inadequacies.

Most of the time the ploy has worked. Not at Old Trafford on Saturday.

For Alex Ferguson to hide behind the referee’s display following Manchester United’s lacklustre performance against their main title rivals was as desperate as the defending that led to Joe Cole opening the scoring in front of the Stretford End.

Yes, Dean and his assistants got it terribly wrong when Didier Drogba’s goal was allowed to stand when it should have been ruled out for offside.

Yes, Dean was wrong not to award a penalty when Park Ji-Sung was bundled over inside the box by Yuri Zhirkov.

Ferguson did not hold back afterwards as he vented his anger towards the match officials labelling their efforts “a poor, poor performance.”

Not as poor as United’s.

What Ferguson failed to mention in his post-match rant was the clear barge by his ageing lieutenant Gary Neville on Nicolas Anelka which should have been a penalty or the suspicious hand ball as Federico Macheda set up a grandstand finish on an afternoon of high drama.

Perhaps the United manager was trying to disguise the fact that he had been tactically out-manoeuvred by Chelsea’s wily Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti.

There have been very few managers who have out-witted the United manager in his own backyard over the years. That’s why Ferguson is chasing his 12th Premier League crown and that’s why United are as successful as they are.

But when the dust settled, there was no disputing Chelsea’s superiority. Unhindered by Champions League action and flights to Europe, Ancelotti used their Cobham training ground to plan an ambush in Manchester that has left Ferguson and his players fighting to save their season.

While United were in Germany in midweek, Ancelotti hatched his master plan – leaving Drogba, his most lethal player, on the bench before using him as an impact player – before watching it come to fruition, albeit in controversial circumstances.

While Ancelotti could afford to leave his leading scorer on the bench, United could ill-afford to be without their prolific leading scorer Wayne Rooney.

Heaven knows what went through the injured striker’s mind as he watched his team’s limp performance from the comfort of one of Old Trafford’s executive boxes.

Statistics had been wheeled out prior to the game pointing to the fact that United have coped convincingly without Rooney this season.

Against the Boltons of this world perhaps. But on Saturday, against the team desperate to deny them an unprecedented fourth successive title, United badly missed Rooney as Dimitar Berbatov failed to impress. He was not alone.

Nemanja Vidic, one of United’s better performers, acknowledged after the game that United do not have time to feel sorry for themselves as they prepare to rescue their Champions League campaign against Bayern Munich, who are protecting a 2-1 lead, on Wednesday.

“We still have five games to play and we have to win all five,” said the Serbian defender after United slipped two points behind Chelsea. “It’s not going to be an easy job. If we win all five games we have a good chance.

“We were feeling down after the first leg of the Bayern Munich game and we can’t afford to be down again. We need to keep our heads up and face facts.

“We can’t afford to feel sorry for ourselves because we must finish the season strongly.”

While United suddenly finding themselves trying to salvage their season, Chelsea are closing in on their first championship for four years.

No doubt Jose Mourinho will claim some of the credit should Ancelotti add a Premier League title to his two Champions League triumphs and single Serie A success.

Inter’s Champions League victory over Chelsea, masterminded by Mourinho, left Ancelotti’s team with only domestic prizes to hunt and has propelled them to big wins over Portsmouth, Aston Villa and now United.

A 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers followed Inter’s raid on Stamford Bridge but since then Chelsea’s season has reached another level.

Florent Malouda ran the show at Old Trafford and it was the former Lyon midfielder’s cross which allowed Cole, who has spent more time on the bench than the pitch recently, to break the deadlock in front of a global television audience reaching 211 countries.

“There’s still five difficult games to go so no one is getting carried away despite this huge result,” said a cautious Cole.

Games against Bolton (home), Tottenham (away), Stoke (home), Liverpool (away) and Wigan (home) still have to be negotiated by Ancelotti’s men.

But make no mistake. The title is Chelsea’s to lose now.